As someone who as been involved with emergency management since the 1980's, with ten years as a CEM, I would argue that we have yet to achieve the level of a profession. Until every jurisdiction views emergency management the same way they view fire protection, EMS service and law enforcement we will not be a profession. Until communities view us as just as essential to the protection of it's citizens as those services we will still be the emergency services step child.
How do we accomplish this Herculean task in todays fiscal environment? We have to carve out a role that provides us with an everyday role in the communities public safety protection. We do this through our role as the coordinator of all the services during a disaster. With technology and an emphasis on creating the infrastructure and partnerships needed during a disaster. A model of how that might look is emerging in Houston, Texas with their TranStar facility.
TranStar is a partnership of the Texas Department of Transportation, Harris County, The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County and the City of Houston. All of the agencies services are coordinated in a single facility. The provide transportation management and emergency management for the greater Houston area. To walk into their operations floor is to walk into what looks like a Pentagon war room. There are representatives from every public safety organization and the transportation agencies involved on the floor twenty-four hours a day. The monitor traffic camera's and manage traffic problems as they occur. They even have a representative from the local traffic radio station on the floor so they can get the message out sooner.
Overlooking all of this is the Emergency Operations Center that is filled the needed technology to manage tornados, hurricanes, floods, terrorist attacks and other major events. The collation, prioritization and distribution of this type of information on a daily basis is the ideal role for emergency management. It creates the needed partnerships with the right agencies and provides a vital service to the community on a daily basis.
If emergency management added social media to the mix with a Facebook book page and a Twitter feed the public would begin to understand emergency management's true role in their community. The technologies to accomplish this exist it is a matter of political will and understanding of the value of this type of operation.
TranStar on their web site lis the following benefits to their community. They have saved their community in travel times and fuel consumption through their traffic management activities more than $2.5 billion since their inception. In 2009 alone they have through the management of traffic they were able to save the Houston metro area $227 million alone. Emergency management warnings have reduced injuries and deaths as well as property damage during floods, hurricanes and man-made events. Their annual budget is $27.7 million but they average $274 million in savings. That is a 9.9 to 1 cost/benefit ratio or for every dollar spent they save $9.90 dollars for the public.
The approach works. Between the sophisticated statistics showing the numbers crunchers and the obvious efficiencies TranStar is a example for every emergency manager. It is a model that can be used in any community. The technologies exist in most communities. It is a matter of fighting the political fight to accomplish the task. For each emergency manager to fight this fight alone is not the way to win the battle. This model must become a national emergency management example and goal, clearly stated and backed by the professional organizations. Until we can carve out a day-to-day role that will assure emergency managers of the needed partnerships and technologies we will always be struggling to call ourselves a profession.
